


Talking

by flootzavut



Series: Rosefern [15]
Category: NCIS
Genre: AU, Episode: s10e02 Recovery, Friendship, Gen, Humour, Kate Lives, Kibbs, Rosefern
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-14 21:17:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9203528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flootzavut/pseuds/flootzavut
Summary: Gibbs is sent for a psych eval after the Harper Dearing bombing. He's less than thrilled about it, but Rachel has ways of making him talk...





	

**Author's Note:**

> Set after the Harper Dearing affair, during or after Recovery.
> 
> There's a little bit of very mild bad language, but I don't think it puts it above G rated. That said, if someone who is more familiar with the ratings system has a different take on it, please say! I'm terrible at figuring out ratings...

* * *

_**Talking** _

* * *

 

"There's no point glowering at me, you know. This is mandatory."

Gibbs growled under his breath. It was small consolation he was being allowed to see Rachel, who he actually liked, rather than the annoying British guy who'd been bothering the rest of his team. A psych eval was still a psych eval, even with someone he knew and trusted, and being debriefed by a head doctor was not his idea of a fun time. "They can make me come see you, but they can't make me like it." He scowled out at the view. It was similar to the view from what was left of Leon's office, except this room had a window instead of a gaping hole.

Glowering really didn't work on Rachel, and never had. He wondered if that was some kind of family trait.

"But since you have to be here anyway," she said, radiating friendliness and reason in a way that'd be damn annoying if he didn't like her so much, "we might as well do something useful, don't you think? I know talking isn't your favourite pastime-"

He humphed. "How long it take you to work that out?"

"About five seconds." She wasn't remotely abashed. "Okay, let's start off with the things I already know. I know you don't want to be here. I know you probably think it's a waste of time-" He opened his mouth to say something, though he wasn't sure what. She was spot on with how he felt about this. It didn't matter anyway, because Rachel just held up a hand to shush him. "It's okay, Gibbs, I'm not offended, I'm just stating the facts, so we both know where we stand."

She paused, gave him a chance to agree or disagree, and he sighed and nodded. They might as well start on the same page. He didn't want to offend Rachel, but he did think this was pretty damn pointless.

"I know you actually have some respect for me, despite my profession, which is part of the reason I insisted they let you see me. I figured at least you wouldn't just tell me to go screw myself."

"Wanna bet?"

She laughed. "Well, I reckon I have a fifty-fifty chance, which is better than you'd give some random shrink you'd never met before."

Gibbs couldn't help smiling despite himself, tilted his head to acknowledge the truth of it.

"And..." She paused for a second, as if she wasn't sure about what she was going to say. "And I know you're in love with my baby sister."

He looked up at her sharply, ready to issue a firm denial, but Rachel just looked at him, her expression a mixture of sympathy and amusement, and the words died on his lips.

"You're not the only one who's good at reading people, Gibbs. Or did you forget I'm a psychologist?"

He sighed, shook his head. He'd honestly thought he was doing better keeping that under wraps. He scrubbed his hands across his face. Clearly, she wasn't going to accept any kind of subterfuge. She'd figured it out, figured him out, and it was way too late to hide. This was just damage control now. "How long've you known?"

Rachel's smile softened a little, and she relaxed back into her chair. He got the impression she'd been building herself up to bully it out of him, but was pretty relieved not to have to try. "I guessed there was something there when we first met." She cocked her head at him. "Believe it or not, most bosses I know don't go out of their way to give comfort or closure to the relative of a dead or missing employee." She paused. "They sure as hell don't look so pained about the loss after six years. I knew losing Kate was a struggle for the whole team, it was obvious, but you... you were still hurting. Your pain was as raw as mine, as if it had happened weeks or even days ago, not years. You talked the talk about moving on, but you were still hurting. Carrying the grief around like it was a fresh wound. And then when we came out to meet you guys, down in LA... I saw your face, the way you looked at her, the disbelief, the joy. I know you care about your team, Gibbs, I know how guilty you felt about not saving Kate, but the way you held her, the way you couldn't take your eyes off her..."

"Damn." He shook his head. "Didn't realise I was so easy."

She searched his expression, smiled again. "If it helps, I saw it because I was looking for it. It was part of a larger pattern, it was confirmation." She leaned forward and laid her hand over his for a moment. "You weren't broadcasting your emotions for your whole team to read."

He closed his eyes. "Okay. Okay." She must realise it wasn't his team he was worrying about right now. He wondered how to ask. She wouldn't have said anything to Kate, she had too much integrity for that, just as she was sure Rachel wouldn't be spilling any of Kate's secrets to him. But what if Kate already knew? Was he so transparent? He'd been trying so hard to simply be a good friend. But if she'd worked this out...

"Gibbs?"

Rachel's voice was full of concern. He gave himself a mental shake and looked up warily.

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"I don't... I don't wanna put any pressure on her. I don't want her to feel like-" He shrugged. "Never was so good with the words."

Rachel's sudden grin was mischievous. "You don't say."

"I guess you had that figured out already."

"You think?"

Rachel's Gibbs impression wasn't as pitch perfect as Kate's, but it wasn't bad. He laughed. Rachel'd always made him think of her little sister, but since Kate's reappearance, it was just a resemblance, and a welcome one at that, no longer a brutal reminder of loss.

He looked down at his hands as he tried to get his thoughts in order. He shook his head. "Just wanna... support her. Be there for her. Don't want her to feel like she owes me anythin' or..."

"I don't think she feels that way at all." She paused, and when he looked up she spoke again. "I call every week or so, you know - to catch up. The time before all this blew up again, she was much more... more grounded than she had been. And the only thing that had changed was that you'd come to see her." She shrugged a shoulder, as if to say 'QED.' "I think you're good for her."

"Oh."

"I can't tell you what it means, and even if I knew exactly how she felt about you, well-" She grinned impishly. "Patient privilege has nothing on sisterly secret keeping. But she saw you, and it helped her."

He studied her face for a few moments, then stared out of the window. Not to glower this time, but to think, to turn her words over in his mind. He had never been sure of the wisdom of his jaunt to Oahu. It was good to know it hadn't been a godawful idea.

A memory surfaced. A very different woman, one he had almost gotten himself entangled with before Kate had returned. He met Rachel's steady gaze again. "Ryan said... she said I make people feel safe."

She nodded slowly. "Sam and I may not agree on a whole lot of things, but she's right about that."

It was good to hear it from someone he trusted a hell of a lot more than he could trust Sam Ryan. "Hope maybe I make your sister feel that way."

Rachel smiled. "She's always known you had her back. Even when you were her asshole boss who drove her up the wall, she had confidence you were looking out for her."

He laughed softly. Kate had never hidden her frustration well. He was glad she'd realised, even back then, that he wasn't just an asshole. "She was always wantin' me to talk about stuff. Always tryna be a-" He trailed off, smiled fondly. Kate had been so damn persistent, despite his best efforts. "A friend, I guess." It was something he'd done his best to shut down at the time, had tried to be ruthless about, with mixed success... and now it was the one thing he badly wanted. The irony wasn't lost on him.

"Kate tries to look after the people she cares about. Even when they piss her off."

They shared a grin.

"Guessin' I pissed her off plenty."

"All the time."

He chuckled. "Tryna make sure I do it less often these days."

"A noble ambition."

He could tell she was teasing him, but it was done so good-naturedly he couldn't take offence. He rolled his eyes, and she grinned still wider, that 'cat who got the cream' expression she and her sister both had down pat.

"So..."

"So what?"

He pulled a face. "So, you gonna ask me questions or what? No offence, Doc, but I got work to do."

She raised one eyebrow. "I don't need to give you a questionnaire to know you're pathologically incapable of giving yourself a break, your team is running on fumes and a determination not to let you down, and that none of this will make the slightest difference in how you or they do your jobs. You're weary, obsessive and borderline unstable, and it's as fit for work as you're ever going to get. You need a psych eval like you need a hole in your head. But, you know..." She rolled her eyes and shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe sometimes it's just good to talk to someone."

She looked at him expectantly, and he shrugged right back. "About what?"

"About the bomb. About Kate. About Harper Dearing. About whatever else you want to talk about." She grinned, sweetly smug. "Patient's choice."

"Somethin' tells me sayin' g'bye and that'll be all ain't one of the choices."

"Nope."

He sighed "You're a pain in my ass, Doc."

"Family trait."

She was so cheeky as she said it, he laughed out loud. "No kiddin'."

"Tell you what, if you talk for ten minutes, I'll tell you about the time Kate beat up the school bully. Who, by the way, was two years older than her and about three times her size." Rachel grinned again. "She was nine."

"Only nine?"

"Uh-huh. She's always been... you know, Kate. Even when she was a little kid in pigtails."

He grinned imagining it. A pint-sized Kate Todd, small but fierce, taking on the scourge of the schoolyard. "I bet she didn't play fair."

"Well, Gibbs, all you have to do is tell me honestly how you're doing, have an honest talk with me about something, and I'll give you a play by play."

He shot her a glare, though his heart wasn't in it. "Bribery and corruption."

She shrugged. "Hey, whatever works."

He shook his head at her, but the frown just wouldn't hold and he couldn't stop himself from chuckling. And then he started to talk.

_~ fin ~_


End file.
